We are often blind to our own environment because of our assumptions, framed by media, insular thinking and our own prejudices. Smart City Consulting's blog – named one of the most intriguing in the U.S. by Pew Partnership for Civic Change – hopes to show how Memphis really is and could be through alternative questions, fresh approaches and new ideas. We hope to open your eyes - and your ears - to a new way of thinking about Memphis. Send ideas and emails to tjones@smartcityconsulting.com.

Thursday, May 31, 2007

This Week On Smart City: What Makes Cities Successful

What makes cities successful? It's a question we ask every week here on Smart City. And this week we have two authorities from the University of Chicago to address that topic - one with a very local view and the other with a global outlook.

Sean Safford has studied the decline of Rust Belt cities and found that particular kinds of social networks were key to a city's ability to renew.

Saskia Sassen has studied global cities and concluded that corporate headquarters are less important to a city than are globe-trotting consultants.

Smart City is a syndicated, weekly hour-long public radio talk show that takes an in-depth look at urban life: the people, places, ideas and trends that affect us all. Host Carol Coletta talks with national and international public policy experts, economists, business leaders, artists, developers, planners and others on the pulse of city life for a penetrating discussion on urban issues.

In Memphis, Smart City is broadcast on WKNO FM, 91.1, at 9 a.m. Sundays. It is also webcast and podcast at the Smart City website, which also has a listing of broadcast times in other cities and the sign up for a weekly newsletter.

Let me add that Saskia Sassen is one of the most highly respected Urban Sociologists in the world. Whe always has interesting insights into the modern urban realities. Probably a program well worth catching. George

Liquidity makes cities successful. Read this great recent article "A Word About the Role of Cities" by Craig Thomas of Torto Wheaton Research (A CB Richard Ellis Company). It is right on and Memphis needs to focus on being a smart city in this way.